Hours this week:

The Clark Library combines our map collection, government information center, and spatial and numeric data services. It is a rich and unique resource, where students and scholars from every discipline--as well as those working across disciplines--can find the materials, tools, and expertise to meet their research needs.

This library is a congressionally designated depository for U.S. Government documents. Public access to the government documents collection is guaranteed by public law. (Title 44 United States Code)

Blog

Discovering a new dataset always makes for an exciting time at the Clark Library and provides an excellent opportunity to experiment. We recently learned about the newest version of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Museum Universe Data File. The dataset consists of information describing over 35,000 museums throughout the United States. The dataset describes location, type of museum, rural/urban status and tax information (e.g. revenue, income) where available. There is much more that could be done with this data, but we initially just wanted to get a sense of what the data look like on a map.

Across the world on November 19, 2014 people celebrated GIS Day 2014. GIS stand for Geographic Information Systems. GIS Day is an international event that salutes geospatial technology and its power to transform and better our lives. The University of Michigan sponsored a variety of activities, including several events on the Ann Arbor campus. The campus and the community had the opportunity to attend Lightning Talks that highlighted ways to utilize GIS, a student poster competition, and an OpenStreetMap Mapping Party.